Nothing is True
by Lichte
Summary: In the year 2012, Shinji Ikari was kidnapped by the corporation Abstergo. His life from then on was changed. Eva/Assassins Creed
1. Chapter 1

Blade

Escape and Training

My name is Shinji Ikari; I'm a prisoner of war. A war I never knew existed, being waged by two groups that I never thought were real; Templars, and Assassins. The Animus showed me the truth. The things I've seen, the things I've been; over a thousand of history flowing through my veins, brought to life by _this_ machine.

They're using it, using _me, _to search for something. They call it the apple. It's an artifact, one of many, that they call Pieces of Eden. The Templars collect them; it's how they stay in power. If they get their hands on another one, Everything could end.

When I was first brought here, I was afraid of what would happen if I tried to fight these people. Now, I'm scared of what will happen if I _don't_.

But I can't do this alone, and maybe I won't have to. One of the workers here, Lucy Stillman, is probably the reason I haven't been killed yet. I think she's on my side. But now she's gone, taken by that son of a bitch Vidic and his fellow Templars. I don't know what'll happen to her, I don't even know what'll happen to _me_. But I do know one thing; I need to get out of here. The previous test subject, Subject 02, went insane. He killed himself, and probably another person if the amount of blood is anything to go by, and made these strange markings in the cell they now hold me in. Markings that I'm starting to see, as if the blood was never cleaned off.

My name is Shinji Ikari; this is my story.

* * *

I sat on my bed, staring at the marks left by my predecessor. I could here someone coming from down the hall. The steel door slid open, presumably so that another nameless tech could come and take me to the Animus.

I looked over to the entree, surprised at who it was.

"Lucy, where have you bee-" She cut me off.

"We have to go." I couldn't disagree with that statement, so I followed her out of the cell.

While following her, I noticed something on her shirt. "What's with the blood? Are you okay?"

We'd reached the Animus. "Look Shinji, we have maybe ten minutes, _maybe_, before they realize what I've done. If we're not out of her by then…" She was breaking me out?

"We're getting out of here?" She gestured to the Animus.

"I promise I'll answer all of your answers later, but right now I need you to get in the Animus." By the look in her eyes, it seemed like this was important. I got onto the table, and felt the pinpricks of the needles going into my spine as the visor covered my face.

This is different. Normally I'd be reliving the life of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. Instead, I saw a stream of DNA reading **Animus Test Subject 03: Shinji Ikari**. I saw another strand appear to the left of the first. **Animus Test Subject 02: I.D. Confidential.**

**Searching for relevant Memory Data…**

**Match Found**

**Now Downloading…**

I felt the Animus starting to power down again.

"Get up, we need to move." Damnit, do you not realize how much this thing throws off your balance?

I swung my legs over the table and put a bit of pressure on them.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need a minute."

"There isn't time Shinji, we need to move." Lucy was already at the door. By the time she got it opened I was able to move around fairly well.

Once we were in the hallway, I saw something that scared the hell out of me. Two guards were coming around a corner. Lucy leaned back and said "Stay close." What did she think I would do?

And they've seen us. "Hey! You're not supposed to be up here!" Lucy started punching in the code for a door. "I'm calling this in." The door was open. I followed Lucy down the corridor. "We have a breach in the Research Wing. I repeat; there's been a breach in the Research Wing. Requesting backup from all available security personnel." As he finished speaking, Lucy turned another corner. Which had a pair of guards. With night-sticks. Shit.

"There they are." The guard reached out to grab her. She responded by knocking away the hand and throwing him into the wall. The other took a swing at her with his stick. She grabbed the weapon and the unfortunate guard got a broken jaw for his trouble. She then hit the other guard in the back of the head for good measure.

"Holy Shit!" I ran after Lucy, slowing as she opened another door. An elevator, good. I remembered something important.

"What about the cameras?" If they knew where we were, they could guess where we were headed and cut us off.

"I rigged them to loop old footage. How do you think I hid your nighttime snooping from the Templars?" I thought she was the one who was leaving me those passwords.

"You're good." I never would have been able to manage something like that.

"So I've been told. But they're probably onto us by now. We need to hurry." The elevator reached the floor. Lucy gestured to me "Careful…" Why is there a maze in the middle of the building? We need to get to the elevator on the other side of this room. Follow my lead. And be sure to keep away from security; I want to avoid a fight if possible." Fair enough. We got through without incident. When we got to the elevator door itself… "Damnit, I thought my code would work. It must be on a different system. We'll have to-" I really wasn't listening to her, and she seemed to have caught on. Something weird happened with my eyes. I could see finger prints on the keys.

3-2-4-7… Shit

7-4-2-3… come on

2-3-7-4… yes

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know." That's wrong, I know exactly what that was. But how could I use Altair's Eagle Vision.

No time to stop and think about it. I followed her into the elevator.

The garage was thankfully clear of guards. I'd hate to think of how it would have gone if we'd had to fight our way through. I followed Lucy to one of the cars. She popped the trunk and looked at me. "Get in."

"You're joking." I'm being shoved into a trunk again.

"It's for your own protection." I resigned myself to the inevitable and climbed in. "We're almost there."

* * *

I felt the car stop moving. I wonder where we are now. I heard someone come around to open the trunk. I guess we got away safely. I started to climb out.

"Thanks for that, it was great. Getting shoved in a trunk, bouncing around; that was fun, can we do it again?" Looking around, I it seemed we were in some kind of warehouse.

I looked over to Lucy, "This way." She started walking towards some stairs.

"So, you ready to tell me what's happening?"

"There was a reason for the escape, Shinji."

"Well that's kind of obvious, are you going to tell me what that reason is?"

"We need your help."

"For what, another treasure hunt through time?" I just finished doing that.

"The Templars are going to replace their Apple. The map your ancestor found guarantees it. The other Assasins… they'll do what they can, but…"

"But what?"

"We're losing this war Shinji. We were hit a lot harder by the impact than the Templars were, and they were able to secure control of the U.N. Everyday, more of us die…"

"I still don't see how I fit into all of this."

"We're going to train you, turn you into one of us."

"Me, an Assassin? No way, I can't do this. Besides, it would take months, years even, to train me." There wouldn't be enough time for me to be able to make a difference.

"Not with the Animus, not with the Bleeding Effect." She's right about that last part, but still…

"But I'm just one kid." Not even a teenager yet.

"Sometimes, one person is all you need to make a difference. And as for your age, it'll work for you." As she was talking, something clicked in my head.

"So that's why you found him, my ancestor. What was his name? Ezio?"

"If you can follow in his footsteps, you can learn everything he did. Just like he did. Years of training and experience, absorbed in a couple of days." We were coming up to the top of the stairs.

"So that's why you broke me out, to make me an Assassin." It wasn't a question.

"There's more to it than just that, but it'll have to wait. Just trust me." You tell me that you aren't telling me everything, and then you want me to trust you? Then again, I don't really have a lot of options. If I leave, the Templars will just capture me again.

"I'm in; just tell me what to do." The fact that I want revenge is pretty good incentive too.

"Are you serious?" She seems surprised for some reason.

"I thought you'd be a little happier about this." And it's the only option available.

"I'm just a little surprised. I spent the whole ride over here trying to figure out how to get you to-"

"Save it. After what those bastards put me through, I'm ready, willing, and able."

She walked over and hugged me. "Thank you." That's the most affection I've been shown in years.

I followed her down the hall into a large room. There were two other people in it. There was a dark brown haired woman wearing headphones, sitting in front of a chair with a bunch of electronics seemingly connected to it. At the other end, there was a man with light brown hair and glasses. His desk had one computer and several folders and documents scattered across it. The woman was the first to notice us. She stood up and walked over "Lucy, it's been so long!" the two women embraced. "Seven years; can you believe it?"

The man walked over from his desk. "Indeed; welcome back Lucy." He turned to look at me "And this must be Subject 03."

"Who are you?" His accent doesn't seem American… British?

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Shaun Hastings, and this is Rebecca Crane."

The aforementioned woman looked over to me. "Nice to meet you Shinji." She seems nice enough.

Hastings spoke up again. "Right, well it's been lovely chatting, but if you don't mind, it's best we get to work right away. Time is precious" no arguing with that "doubly so these days" he muttered the last bit.

Lucy then handed Rebecca what looked to me like a little metal cube. "I brought you something. A little parting gift from the Templars."

"Whoa! The memory core? Things will go a lot smoother with their data. I'll get to work on uploading it to the Animus." She went to work on her computer.

I decided to talk with these two and see what I could learn about what they did. From what I could gather, Shaun was in charge of gathering information and Rebecca managed their Animus. She claimed that anything the Templars could create, she could make better and faster.

The Animus itself was much different than the table at the Templars HQ. For one thing, it was a chair. "So how does this work?" She took out a needle, making a sympathetic face. "Of course. Ow!"

Shaun spoke up "What are you, a little child?"

As I felt myself beginning to lose consciousness to enter the memory, I shouted out "Yes!"

I spent the rest of that day reliving a few years of the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a son of an aristocrat in renaissance Italy, and an Assassin. As I relived his acquisition of his skills, my actual body began to change to allow it to do the same. The Bleeding Effect is truly an amazing thing, in moderation. In larger amounts however, it could drive a person insane. Like what happened to 02.

So it was probably a good thing Lucy and Rebecca pulled me out of the Animus. Lucy decided that it would be a good time to test the progress of the Bleeding Effect by having me go through an obstacle course in the main floor of the warehouse. My strength, speed, flexibility, and balance were unbelievable. I'd never even seen the actual course she put me through or done anything like it (with my real body), but was able to do the course like it was part of an everyday routine.

After the test, I asked Lucy something I'd been thinking about for a while. "I've been wondering, why Ezio? I mean, we could have just as easily gone back to Altair again; relived his early days."

"You have a right to know. Around the time when 02 died, Vidic started becoming obsessed with Italy. Trying to find something there." And thanks to Ezio, I knew what.

"The Codex; they're trying to find it!" If they get a hold of that, then we're pretty much fucked. That thing has every important piece of information about the Assassins for over a thousand years.

"Now do you see? If they get a hold of that, then they gain yet another advantage over us." And it could be the advantage that finally kills the Assassins.

"Then we need to figure out what happened to it soon."

"You're right about that, but this is still primarily training for you. Don't forget that."

"I got it." The long term effects could give me problems later on.

"You spent a long time in the Animus today, you should get some rest."

While in the Animus the next day, I began to grow concerned about the long-term effects on my mind. Physically, I was still a child; but I had the psychological experience of a twenty-three year long quest for vengeance, with all the memories of killing that accompanied that.

I stopped to focus for a moment. I can think about this later, this memory looks pretty important. Ezio Auditore had finally eliminated the last of the group of Templars he had been hunting. Using the Pieces of Eden they had fought with, Ezio opened a hidden room inside the Vatican. A bright light appeared before him and spoke thus "Greetings prophet, it is good that you have come. Let us see it; to give thanks." At this, Ezio held out a golden sphere, an Apple, and the light took on the form of a woman.

The woman looked over Ezio's left shoulder. "We must speak." If I didn't know better, I'd swear she was looking at me.

Ezio seemed to have recovered his voice "Who are you?" The woman's attention was returned to Ezio.

"I have gone by many names. When I died, it was Minerva. Before that, Merva and Mera. And on and on." She gestured to her left, "The others too; Juno, who was before called Uni; and Jupiter, who was once Tinia."

The names of these Roman deities seemed to click in Ezio's head. "You are… Gods." Awe was evident in his voice.

"No, not gods. We simply came… before. Even as we walked the earth, your kind struggled to comprehend our existence. We were more advanced. Your minds were not ready." She seemed to be looking at me again. But that couldn't actually be what she was doing, could it? "Still… not; perhaps never." Her face turned grim. "You may not comprehend us, but you will understand our warning. You must."

Ezio still did not understand what was happening any better than I did. "None of what you are saying makes any sense."

Minerva appears irritated with him. "Our words are not meant for you." She looked back to where I was.

… Holy shit.

"What are you talking about; there is no one else here."

"Enough! I do not wish to speak _with_ you but _through_ you. You are the Prophet. You've played your part. You anchor him, but please be quiet. So that we may commune." I stand by my previous statement on the situation. Minerva's physical from faded out. "Listen. When we were still flesh, and our home still whole, your kind betrayed us. We, who made you! We, who gave you life! We were strong; but you were many. And we both craved war. So busy were we with earthly affairs, we ignored the heavens. And by the time we noticed the impending destruction, it was to late to stop it. The world was nearly destroyed, and it ought have been the end. But we built you in our image. We built you to _survive_. And so we did. Few were our numbers; both your kind and mine. It took sacrifice, strength, compassion. But we rebuilt. And as life returned to the world, we endeavored to ensure such a tragedy would never be repeated. But now we are dying, and time has worked against us. The truth has been made into myth, and legend. That which we built, misunderstood. Let my words preserve this message, and make a record of our loss. But let my words also bring hope. Man will have a way to fight back. Man will have weapons to act as a sword and shield against what destroyed us. There will be few who can wield these weapons; but with them, this world might be saved. You must be quick. And guard against the cross. Their influence spreads farther than you believe." Minerva reappeared. "It is done; the message is delivered. We are gone now from this world. All of us. We can do no more. The rest is up to you Shinji."

I felt myself being pulled out of the Animus.

* * *

"What the _Fuck_!?" I was disoriented from being in the Animus. The others were running around and an alarm was blaring.

"…There's only about ten minutes until they get…"

"…Need all of my equipment…"

"…Ready to go before they do…"

"Shinji!" Lucy's yelling at me.

"Yeah yeah" I was rubbing my eyes.

"Shaun, I need you and Rebecca get everything in here packed and loaded into the truck. Shinji, you and I will deal with the Templars."

"What, they're here!?" I was up now.

Shaun answered "It was only a matter of time before they discovered us. To be honest, I'm surprised it took them as long as they did." How long have you been here then!?

Lucy got my attention. "Let's go." She tossed what most would see as a gauntlet towards me. We knew exactly what it really was, and how deadly it could be. Looks like I'm getting a real-life test of my new abilities.

I set up the weapon on my left arm, finding that unlike Ezio's equipment, there was only a blade to work with. That'll be enough. I followed Lucy to the stairs.

"So what's the plan? We ditch this place, and then what?"

"There's a safe house, it's-" the power cut out. "We've got company." I stopped for a second, and my vision became much clearer. I could see where Lucy was, and I could see the Templars moving below. I knew this sensation. The power held by my ancestors; Eagle Vision.

We got down the stairs just in time to see a group of Templars come around a corner. Vidic was with them.

"Little Shinji! What an unexpected turn of events. And here I thought that we'd have to waste more men hunting you down. So nice of you to save me the trouble." Before I was kidnapped I would have run away. After I'd started being trained in the Animus I'd have flicked out my blade and charged him head-on. Now I waited; there has to be some reason he came personally.

"What do you want Vidic!?"

"For you to come home, of course. We miss you terribly. There's still so much work for us to do."

"It's not happening, Warren." I agree with you there Lucy.

"You continue to disappoint me in every conceivable way, Ms. Stillman. I saved your life once. Do you remember? And This is how you repay me?"

"You saved me so you could keep experimenting on people! Ruining all of those people's lives, for what?"

"Oh, not this tired old argument again. As I recall, you were right there with me, every step of the way. Their blood is on your hands, just as much as it is on mine."

Lucy turned to me. "You _need _to stop him."

I intended to do that already. "I'm on it." Vidic ran off while guards moved to surround Lucy, only one of them coming towards me. It's killing time. I flicked my blade out and dived into the man, my blade slipping between his ribs and destroying his heart. I started slashing at the guards, knocking their weapons aside and slashing their necks. The last one I killed had tried to hit me with his night-stick. I ducked under the strike and grabbed the stick as I turned away from him, being carried by the momentum of my slash. Lucy was holding her own against the three guards still surrounding her. At some point she'd picked up one of their weapons.

"I'll be fine. Go after Vidic!"

I ran off in the direction he'd headed to find another wave of grunts. These bastards can't lay a finger on me now. I tore threw most of them, leaving a couple to Lucy as she came around the corner. I could see Vidic standing in the back of the giant truck parked in the new hole in the wall.

"Looks like you're the last man standing doc." I heard the engine start.

"Enjoy your victory boy, temporary as it is." The truck drove off.

"Shinji, we have to go!" I ran back and got in the van with the others.

"You'll get your turn; Warren's going to get what he deserves."

"So now what?" She mentioned a safe house earlier.

"Rebecca's going over the tapes from your Animus sessions. As for us, it's time we tell you everything. What do you know about the Second Impact?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Infiltration

Approximately 2 years 8 months later…

Abstergo Industires, Italian Branch.

We were ready. It had been over two years since my escape, and the Templars had kidnapped several others to be placed in the Animus. As far as we could tell, none of them had been able to provide any aid to the Templars. Tonight, we will eliminate a key member of their personnel.

Warren Vidic would not see the sun rise.

I looked over the heavily modified gauntlets on my arms. While they still functioned as they had originally and were in working order, they also held modifications that had proven very useful in previous assignments.

Strapped to my belt were a pouch containing twenty-five throwing knives for silent kills, a KA-BAR knife like those used by the USMC, and a pair of M84 stun grenades.

I never learned the names of the Assassins who were with me on this mission. Our team had been selected based on complimentary skill sets. The woman we referred to as C was inept in most forms of combat; she was here to handle computer based locks that required more than a simple pass code. The large man in front was chosen because of his skill with explosives and ability to act as a guard. We referred to him as H. I was here because of my ability to kill quickly and quietly, as well as my more unique ability.

At this point, we were merely waiting for Lambda team to begin their assault. They all had accepted that they would likely die providing us with the distraction we needed. They also knew that they would likely die soon regardless if we did not eliminate the Templars.

We heard the explosion from the other side of the building. Once most of the guards had run off to find the cause, I began to move. I reached into my pouch and threw a blade into the necks of each of the three remaining men. I gestured for the others to come over; C would be able to get through this door before H or I could.

I was able to use a computer, and could hack into some computers with low security.

I wouldn't have a chance in hell of hacking into the security system for Abstergo. We have specialists like C and Rebecca for that.

The door slid open and I took the lead again. We were in the parking garage that Lucy and I had come through years ago. The basic layout of the place was still the same, and it was easy enough to find the elevator to the level with the terminals and the… Animuses? Animi? I still don't know what the plural term is. Doesn't matter really. They're about to be destroyed.

I left H to guard C and went to eliminate the guards that I knew patrolled this room. I only avoided being seen until I took down the seventh guard. It was only his surprise at seeing someone here that kept him from drawing his gun and killing me before I did. I wouldn't have time to draw one of the remaining nineteen knives in my pouch. Reacting on instinct, I steadied my right arm, and made use of the modification to the device on it. The weapon functioned as it had been designed to. The bullet fired straight into the man's heart, killing him. The other guards on the floor seemed to have been called away to the distraction Lambda had caused, so the level was clear for now.

I told H to ready the remote explosives while I took C to the main security room. She'd be able to hinder the guards from there, and be able to report their movements to us. According to the intel we'd, let's say acquired, from the captured worker, the residential sector would be a floor above that. Once I had gotten C to the designated location, I was ordered to proceed to the next floor and eliminate Vidic. After he was dead, I was to escape by any means necessary.

My orders had nothing to do with the survival of C and H. They likely had orders similar to mine, complete their assigned task and escape independently.

The next floor had a surprisingly low number of guards. If Lambda survived, I would have to thank them if I ever meet one of them. If the floor was fully staffed, I'd be dead.

Not that there wasn't plenty of guards to take out. I was almost out of knives now.

The control room was empty. We should have suspected something was wrong then, but we were too eager to assume that they had been called away. I should have checked the room for traps. If I hadn't, then C might've…

I went straight to the next floor, following C's directions to Vidic's quarters. From the control room, she unlocked the door to the bastard's room. I entered the room without making a sound, making my way to the bed. I could see the bastards chest rising. I lifted my left arm, slamming the released blade through his heart.

I remember wondering why C hadn't said anything since opening the room for me. I realized as soon as I left the room why it was that I hadn't heard a thing from the other two.

I also realize now that if anyone other than me had been sent to kill Vidic, there would have been no survivors.

With my unique talent, I was able to see what was coming down the hall. There was a gas that I could tell would have a harmful, probably deadly, effect on me. I ran back into the room, and did something that no one but an Assassin would have any reason to believe they would live through. You don't get to judge me as insane for it, because it's the reason I that I'm still alive. I shot the window and ran straight for it. I was taking a leap of faith.

Others would just see it as jumping out of the twelfth floor of the building.

* * *

Warren Vidic had been a sacrificial lamb. After acquiring the data from my memory as Altair, the higher ups saw no reason to recapture me, or to continue funneling resources into the Animus project. Warren Vidic had served his purpose; after my escape he became a liability.

He was used as bait to try and kill a team of Assassins.

It succeeded as well. Lambda team threw their lives away to get us into the building. C and H were killed in the same way that I almost was. If even the slightest bit of that gas had touched me, I'd be dead. I knew that the moment I saw it. It was later confirmed to have been Vexxon, a nerve agent developed by the Nazis during WW2. A grown man would be dead after thirty seconds of skin contact.

This was the reason that the Templars had to be eliminated. They were the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to kill their own followers to further their goals. Everyone who had been in that building except me died, and I only survived through chance.

Those bastards have been a scourge on humanity since Cain, and they will die.

_**

* * *

**_

Fast forwarding to a more recent memory

"Do you know why you are here, child?" My training was the only thing preventing me from flinching at the tone in the man's voice, for good reason. The man before me was one of the greatest Assassins the Order had ever seen, and the highest authority our order held. Those in the order referred to him as ماجستير, The Master. No one who had ever seen his face lived long enough to give a description, and there were several people on both sides who believed that the black hooded man was actually several different people.

"Because of your failure, the lives of two valuable Assassins were needlessly lost." He was right about that. I was the one who was supposed to check for traps like the Vexxon, my ability should have allowed me to find something like that. "Were it not for several extenuating circumstances, you would be executed for this." It wouldn't be the first time an Assassin was put to death for failure. The Order can't afford to have liabilities in the field, especially not now of all times. "However, as recent events in Russia have proven, the Prophecy of Minerva that you delivered to us is coming to pass. As such, you shall be sent as one of very few agents we have managed to place in the organization known as NERV." He must be talking about that incident at the Bethany Base.

"How am I to infiltrate this group?"

"You will be using your admittedly unfortunate but useful connection to Gendo Ikari to acquire any information you can about its command structure." If the Master noticed my reaction to that bastards name, he ignored it. "Preparations for your infiltration to the organization are already in place. You will be handed over as a hostage to be picked up by a member of NERV. From there, you will be free to act as you see fit so long as you do not compromise yourself. Any potentially relevant information is to be reported."

"How am I to report safely?" missions like this had in the past caused Assassins to be completely cut off from the Order for several months.

"You will be 'kidnapped' again in approximately two months. If further observation is needed, you will heroically escape, making your way back to Tokyo-3 using 'stolen supplies'. Further reports will then be submitted through an agent who will be in place by the time of your return, regardless of the results."

"Understood."

"And remember; Nothing is True."

"And Everything is Permitted."

* * *

_**Flash forwarding to a more recent memory**_

The transfer went without incident, though if I'd been allowed to keep any weapons I might have killed the woman who picked me up out of habit.

In my defense, she was wearing a cross. Oh look, a giant green monster.

What the hell? "Oh shi" Katsuragi was drowned out by the nuclear weapon that just hit the thing in the face. Wait a sec, that's wrong. It was probably an N2. But still… they must be getting desperate if they used something like that in a populated area.

"What the hell!? Did they just fire a nuke?" Better to play ignorant.

"Don't worry about it, those things are non-nuclear. I'm Lt. Colonel Katsuragi, but you can just call me Misato." Well she's taking this pretty calmly.

"What is that thing?"

"We call them Angels."

So _this _thing is the 'threat from the heavens' that wiped out Those who came Before?

Once we'd entered a tunnel heading underground I asked the officer what my father did here.

"He's the commander of NERV, didn't he ever tell you?"

"I haven't seen the man in three years, and it's been ten since we spoke."

"Sounds like you and your dad don't get along to well. I guess that's something we have in common." What does she mean something we… no, forget it.

"Read over this." She tossed a booklet with NERV's logo over the front. There wasn't anything important in it that I could see, but I decided to check. I felt my eyes slip into Eagle vision and looked at the book. Figures; no white glow around the book, no information I'll need. Looking over at Katsuragi, I saw she was surrounded by blue. She seems to genuinely believe we're on the same side for something. Given what Minerva said and the thing above the city, she's probably right in believing that.

I could also tell that, wherever we were supposed to be going, this wasn't the way there. Of course, if I started going along the correct path I would probably be accused of being a spy, which would not end well for me, so I had to keep my mouth shut. Though it was obvious to anyone observing that she was lost. "We're lost."

She looks mad…

I was saved from anything worse by the blond woman coming out of the elevator.

"Your twelve minutes late Lt. Col. Katsuragi. Be glad I found you when I did, we were getting ready to send out a search party. I could tell she was struggling to make up an excuse, so I spoke up.

"She got lost."

"Again…?" Seems she gets lost pretty often. The woman walked back into the elevator, motioning us to follow her.

"So, I'm guessing this is the boy."

"Yeah, he's like his father; the unfriendly part that is." They didn't seem to notice the slight tensing of my shoulders that I couldn't quite suppress at being compared to that genetic donor.

"I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head of Section One. It's a pleasure" She held her hand out. I shook it, not trusting her in the slightest.

After all, she had a yellow glow.

* * *

We eventually made our way into a dark room. Most people would be having problems seeing in this condition, but my eyes are better than that. Well not better, more like… I really don't know how to explain it, I can just tell where things are because of their intent. People and things with information are white, people who will help me are blue, hostile people and objects such as automated turrets and tripwires are red, and people with a yellow glow are usually targets for assassination. Yellow is a designation almost exclusive to the upper levels of the Templars, which means that Akagi is more than she seems.

The reason the lights were off probably had something to do with the yellow glowing man on the upper level. Either that or the giant glowing blue head in front of me, it's definitely one of those two.

'_Those who can wield these weapons will be few' _

I let my vision slip back into the normal spectrum as the lights came on. That head is even uglier in the light. I wonder how I would have reacted if I hadn't known it was there. More importantly, I could now clearly see who the man behind it was.

"It's been quite a while."

"I'm not foolish enough to believe that you finally had me retrieved out of the goodness of your heart. So tell me, what is that you want from me."

The bastard refused to address me, instead telling his subordinates that they were moving out.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he was talking to me too.

"So that's it?" I couldn't help but laugh to myself at the situation. "You abandon me for ten years, leaving me with kidnappers for almost three, and now you expect me to go out and fight for you? Why the hell should I!?" I was yelling at this point. I also didn't really care about the lack of control being shown, it would only cause him to underestimate me later on.

"Because you will finally be of some use to me."

"That's not a fucking answer!" It seems the old man's realized I don't intend to follow his orders.

"Fuyutsuki, wake up Rei." I couldn't quite hear the man's response, but I heard the bastards cold voice "She's not dead yet."

A few moments later, a group of medics carted in a girl about my age. I can't believe I'm actually surprised that this bastard is doing something like this. At least a third of this child's body is covered with bandages, some of which appear to be over wounds that are still bleeding.

As the girl started trying to get up, the giant above ground decided to make sure we hadn't forgotten about it by causing the complex to start shaking. The docs who brought her in ran from the room as she fell off the gurney. Since no one else seemed to give a damn, I ran over to see how badly she was injured.

… That's way to much blood for her to be doing anything right now. Damn it, how badly did he damage her mind? Even now, while she should be in an ICU, she was struggling to follow Rokubungi's orders. If she goes out there, she's going to die, and if that happens, we're all fucked.

The Angel struck the ground above us again, this time bringing down loosened pieces of the ceiling. SHIT! I can't just leave her to die, but if I move her I could injure her to an even worse degree than she already is. Damnit, it's too late to move now.

So this is how I'll die…

I've failed my mission…

**CLANG**

I'm alive? I could hear people speaking around me. "The Eva activated itself!" I looked up to see a giant arm covering me and the girl. "That's not possible! The Entry Plug wasn't even inserted!" It looks like I don't have any other options left.

"I'll pilot your damn toy!"

* * *

A few minutes later I was in a metal tube being dropped into the so called Eva's spine.

"Filling the Entry Plug." The tube started filling with liquid. I did the smart thing and held my breath.

"Don't worry about it Shinji, once the LCL enters your lungs it will oxygenate your blood directly." I tried breathing normally and my mouth was filled with what seemed to be a mixture of blood and piss.

"Initiating secondary contacts. A-10 nerve connection normal."

"Configure language logic interface for Japanese."

"All preliminary contacts have been established. Performance is nominal." This thing's starting to feel like syncing with an Animus. It's like I'm seeing through its eyes. "Bidirectional circuits are open. Synchronization ratio has reached absolute borderline and is climbing… What the hell!?"

"Is something wrong out there?" Why does she sound so freaked out? I feel fine, but the weight of this armor could give some problems with maneuverability. I'm synching with this thing better than I did with Altair and Ezio.

"Synch ratio stabilizing at 99.89%!"

"Berserker?" What the hell does that even mean?

"All harmonics appear to be normal. I can't find any irregularities."

"Beginning launch sequence."

"Removing primary lock bolt." Pieces of the room started to move away from the Eva.

"Primary lock bolt removal confirmed."

"Removing the Umbilical Bridge." The bridge I'd been standing on a few minutes ago was pulled away.

"Removing secondary lock bolts."

"Removing primary restraints." How dangerous is this thing?

"Removing secondary restraints." Really, why do they need all of these restraints?

"Safety locks one through fifteen have been released."

"Roger. Move EVA-01 to the launch pad." The behemoth was moved beneath a series of shutters that started opening.

"Launch path is clear, all systems are green. Evangelion is ready for launch."

"Understood. Eva launch!" it took all of my remaining willpower not to shout "Wheeeeeee!" for the thirty second ride up. I normally would have done it, but they would think I was crazy instead of just cocky.

Once I'd reached the top, I found myself facing the giant from before. Now I was able to see it clearly. It had a humanoid shape, but its proportions were wrong. Its legs were much smaller than would be expected from the upper body, and it's arms were long enough to reach it's knees while standing upright. Its massive shoulders were covered by what looked like armor made of bone. What might have been its head was located below the shoulders, and drew attention with two white circular masks, the upper one with a long protrusion from the bottom, and both with solid black eyes. However, the thing that drew the most attention was the red sphere surrounded by what appeared to be ribs.

I commanded the Eva to take a step forward…

… and hit the machines head on the road.

I understand how to control this thing fine, but the balance is a lot different than a human body. I have a giant cable attached to my back, and a giant piece of metal on each shoulder reaching up to my head.

The Angel grabbed my Eva by the head and I could see the monsters hand start to glow. I raised my arms to try and pull it away, but it grabbed my left, twisting the limb until it was useless to me.

I've broken my arm before, hell I've broken it in almost the exact same place. But this bastard didn't just snap the bone, it crushed it and twisted the pieces to ruin the tissue around it. While I was distracted by the feeling of skin being the only thing keeping part of my arm from falling off, its hand started glowing again. Then came the real pain.

A lance of energy was pushing through its arm and out its hand, with my head stuck in front of it. It repeated the process a few times, until finally releasing my head with a final push that blasted me straight through a few buildings, eventually stopping halfway through one as tall as the Eva. At that point, I was amazed I was still conscious. I could _feel _a hole straight through my head, that started at my right eye socket. At was then that I realized something.

I was not the person who should be doing this. I can't competently pilot this thing. I was able to use the Animus because it was something that already had a set pattern. I was able to function as an Assassin because of the Bleeding Effect…

'_Then use it'_

Of course, how could I have been so stupid?

I have the very tool I need to know everything I need to about this thing, and it would be given to whether it wanted to or not. I focused on the pain I was feeling from the Eva's head, from its arm, every bit of input it was giving me; almost as if I was _feeding _on what they Eva felt, what the Eva was.

By this point, I _was _the Eva. I rose out of the building, my damaged arm and head regenerating as I stood.

And I roared as my eyes gave off an unholy light.

* * *

I apologize for the delay, it took me awhile to figure out how I was going to get Shinji into the NERV facility. My original idea involved a large team of Assassins and multiple explosives. By the time I'd figured out a reasonable way to get this to work, I had exams keeping me busy for the week.

Next chapter is the _real _fight with Sachiel, and some mandatory character building. Hopefully, it'll be up by Tuesday.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Awakening

I was able to focus enough to hear what was being said over the com.

"Sync ratio has increased to 100%."

I said I could hear them, not that I understood what any of it meant. But hey, getting anything up to a hundred percent is a good thing.

I saw the Angel coming towards me and charged at the bastard. It tried to raise its arms in defense. Time for payback. I positioned my left arm and grabbed both of the things limbs, crushing them with one hand.

Using them, I pulled the Angel forward, jumping up to kick it in the head. I flipped away from it as it fell back. By the time I'd hit the ground, it was already back up and regenerated, ready to fire another energy beam at me. I knew what this thing could do now, I don't need to move.

The beam stopped a few meters in front of me, held back by a barrier. _AT-Field._ I don't know how I knew what it was called, but I did know that I was safe behind it. With a thought, the things on my shoulders opened, with two knives folding out. I reached to grab both of them, forcing my field forward until it made contact with the enemy's.

Once I'd drawn the blades, the fields had cancelled each other out. I gripped the blades tighter and charged the bastard. It tried firing another blast at my head, but I just tilted my head away from the beam without slowing down.

I ducked under its outstretched arm, jamming both blades into its lowered left arm, using them to cut off the appendage above what would best be described as an elbow. The angel tried firing on me again, and again I moved out of the way. The shot didn't hit me, but the cable was hit when I moved. Guess I'd better finish this.

I rolled away from another shot, and threw one of the knives into its remaining arm. I ran towards it, forcing it down to the ground. It actually looked like I was kneeling with my knee on its crotch. I forced the knife already in its arm down into the ground, holding it in place. I took my remaining blade, and switched to a two handed grip with it raised over my head.

"Bruciare all'Inferno Figlio di una Cagna!"

I forced the knife into the red sphere, and its eyes flashed. The now glowing sphere detached, and the rest of its body enveloped me. The Angel seemed to have been forced into an almost liquid like state. Looks like I'm done he-

**BOOM**

* * *

I woke up in what might have been a hospital room. Most people would likely have sat up, looked around the room, and then looked outside. That option was unavailable to me. My wrists and ankles were individually strapped to the cross shaped mattress. I can feel the nodes for an EEG and an EKG on my skin. I didn't have a shirt or shoes either, but I was still wearing my pants.

I did as I had been trained to do in a situation like this. I kept my mind blank as I returned my breathing to the rate it had been while sleeping. My heart-rate was going through the same progress. That would make sure that anyone remotely checking the readings on these machines wouldn't be aware that I had regained consciousness. With one eye barely open, I looked to my right and saw a bio-hazard sign on the door. What the hell happened?

Damnit, I can't remember anything after the fight. Well, it's not going to do me any good just lying here; I need to escape. Easier said than done, these restraints feel like they're made of leather, damn hard to break.

A few minutes later, and all I'd managed to do was make my wrists start bleeding. If there's a camera in here that I missed, I don't have much time left. Okay, I'm not going to be able to break these restraints; but I might be able to slip out of them now. My wrists are covered in blood; that might be able to work as a lubricant.

Still can't slide my right hand out, but my left is free. This has to be done quickly; I reached over to undo the restraint on my right arm, the electrode on my left coming off as I did it. I reached down to undo the restraints on my ankles when the door opened. Damn, I wasn't fast enough.

"What the hell do you think your doing!?" I undid the buckles on my ankles and stood. It was that Akagi woman.

"I think I'm the one who should be asking questions. Now why the hell was strapped to that damn thing?"

"We were worried about mental contamination from the Eva. The level of synchronization you achieved with it just isn't normal." I cut her off at that point.

"For some reason, I don't think anything about this situation could be considered normal."

"I meant that it went against reasonable expectations. The designated Second Child has been training over half her life, and her score is about thirty points lower than yours was during the first minute you'd ever been inside one." Oh. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Abstergo just might have done one thing that was good for me when they put me in the Animus.

"What did you mean mental contamination? Did you think it would take control of my mind or something?"

"There have been… incidents, in the past. One of the original test pilots went insane and killed herself. Another one achieved a sync ratio of 400% and was absorbed by the Eva." At the last part, an image flashed in my mind of a person getting into an Eva. I couldn't make out the woman's face, but I felt like I should know her.

"When can I leave?" I never liked hospitals, but after the thing with Abstergo, I've had issues with anything resembling a clinical environment.

"You should be able to leave soon enough, but I'd like to run a few more tests to be sure." Of course you would.

* * *

I was allowed to get a shower and a change of clothes about three hours after that. Katsuragi showed up not long after.

"I'm here to escort you to your new home."

"Is that so?" Damn, my voice sounded fucking depressing. Oh well, it'll probably help with faking mental trauma from the 'kidnapping'.

"Oh cheer up; you'll be in your nice new home soon." I don't understand how someone can stay so optimistic.

"I don't know how I should feel about that."

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't had a place of residence for almost three years, and haven't had a home for ten. I know for a fact that Rokubungi wouldn't want me living anywhere near him." It seemed to take her bit to realize who Rokubungi is.

"Oh come on Shinji, he's your father."

"He lost any right to that title years ago."

* * *

Damnit Shinji, you should have known this would happen.

I was sitting across from the Lt. Colonel, who was now in a yellow tank top with no bra and a pair of denim shorts. I was also having the worst string of bad luck I'd had since before my actual kidnapping.

"Damnit!" This is all your fault Auditore. If we had just stuck with Altair then I wouldn't be so easily distracted by this beautiful woman and her huge- Damnit!

_You can't blame him for this; you'd be distracted without his influence. And you suck at rock-paper-scissors._

Shut up.

I couldn't sleep that night. It might have been the unfamiliar surroundings, the lack of weaponry…

I need to get some equipment.

It would look suspicious if I displayed proficiency with a pistol, but I could probably get a knife and some body armor from NERV.

"Why do think you need that stuff?" I'd decided to ask Katsuragi if I could get the equipment I wanted from NERV. She seemed less than enthusiastic about it, but I'd come up with a legitimate sounding excuse last night.

"At the moment, I'm the only person here who can pilot an Eva. I've also been kidnapped before solely due to my connection with the Commander." That wasn't the real reason, but they don't know that. "If they were to find out about this, I'd be an even bigger target for terrorists."

"What makes you so sure that you'd be a target?"

"I spent quite a while with some; I learned a few things about how they think." Technically that's true. Most would consider the Order terrorists, and I didn't say that I learned how they think because they taught me.

She gave a sigh that most would associate with giving in to the inevitable. "You had to go down to NERV in a couple of days to learn to use the Eva anyways. I guess we can get you a weapon and a vest while we're there." Guess she decided to indulge the only viable pilot.

"Thank you ma'am." I gave her a salute.

"Shinji, you don't have to act like that when you're not at NERV."

"Understood ma'am."

"Damn it, Shinji!"

* * *

The training for the Eva was a joke. I've been sitting in this damn simulation for three hours and the only thing they've done is have me shoot a stationary target. I'd tried simply telling them that nothing useful could come of this after I'd proven I could use the pallet rifle properly, but they just kept running simulations.

I heard Misato's voice come over the radio. "What do you think you're doing!?" Since none of them would listen to anything I said, I did something that would force them to listen when I spoke by emptying a simulated clip from the rifle into EVA-01's head.

"Creating a situation where you will have to listen to what I tell you. This game is not going to help me fight against the Angels."

"Shinji, you have to learn the basics first. And this simulation is based on your fight against the Fourth Angel." She didn't know it, but just telling me that designation raised a question I didn't dare ask them. The Order knew that the Templars used the First Angel to cause the Second Impact, and we were pretty sure that the incident at NERV's Bethany Base was the most recent Angel before what they designated as the Fourth. So when did they encounter the Second?

I suppressed that chain of thought for the time being, making a note to include it in my eventual report, and focused on the conversation at hand. "This simulation is definitely NOT based on 'my' fight against it. All of the information you gave me said that Angels are able to learn and capable of undergoing rapid evolution to become resistant to whatever is used against it. This thing, however, is a just an unmoving, undefended, target that can be killed by a single bullet. If that kind of tactic was enough to kill them, the Eva would be unnecessary."

"Well, you seem to have thought this out. I assume you have some suggestions on what to change." I just know that, no matter how grateful I am in the long term, I'm going to hate myself in the short term for what I'm about to say.

"Allow the Angel to change itself to increase durability, speed, and maneuverability through changes in its physical form. Also give it periodic increases to its speed, strength, and durability without having to change itself. And most importantly, allow it to learn from its defeats in previous simulations."

Akagi spoke up after I had finished. "Doing that could end up with the Angel becoming impossible to kill with our current equipment."

"I don't see how a real Angel being able to do any of the things I mentioned would be unrealistic, ma'am." Based on what they'd told me, it was actually likely to happen eventually. Could they really not have realized that?

It took a few seconds before anyone else spoke up. I eventually heard Misato give the order to begin the adjustments to the simulation, and another one started a few minutes later.

* * *

Why the hell did I do that? Sure, the boredom from the way the simulation was before was mentally draining, but the updated version was physically exhausting. I'd actually lost consciousness for a minute after finishing the last simulation.

I actually feel a little bad for the people who designed the weapons for the Eva; the progressive knife was the only weapon that remained effective after the first couple of simulations. (Locate blueprints for report.)

I'd spent the past week listening to lectures about the Eva, Angels, the AT-Field; and several synchronization tests. Today was the first time they'd given me any actual combat training, and that would have done very little if I hadn't spoken up.

I'd also found that I seemed to already know most of what I was told about the Eva. Probably because of syncing with the Eva while subject to the Bleeding Effect.

I started pulling my new white jacket on as I left the locker room. As I was zipping it, I found Misato, as she insists on being called outside of work, waiting for me. "Thanks for the advice in those simulations ma'am; I never would have thought of most of those suggestions."

"Don't worry about it, coming up with them is my job; you're the one who actually did them."

"Still couldn't have done it without you."

"Quit inflating my ego and come on; you've got school tomorrow, remember?" NERV had decided that I needed to be enrolled in a school, probably so they'd be able to keep track of me.

I'd been introduced to the class as a transfer student who came to help with my fathers business. That's technically not a lie, I just didn't tell them what the business was or what I did there. The class representative seemed nice enough, but another kid, Kenuske Aida, seemed suspicious of me. It's unlikely anything will come of it.

After I had returned from lunch, my opinion of Aida changed. I'm going to kill him for spreading rumors like this. I looked again at the message that was waiting for me after I'd gotten back into the room.

'Are you the pilot?'

I had an important decision to make here. If I said no, I would be seen as somewhat suspicious until I was called away because of an Angel attack, at which point I would go through the exact same scenario as I would if I answered yes. Admitting to being the pilot would cause a lot of attention to be focused on me at least for the short term, would increase the likelihood of a terrorist organization learning I'm a part of NERV, as well as increase the likelihood of someone finding out I'm an Assassin.

Actually, there have been both Assassins and Templars who maintained cover without revealing that they were a part of either group until well after their death; Hitler, Ford, Churchill, Napoleon, Jesus. However, the one who really led to my answer was Giovanni Auditore da Firenze. He was a member of the nobility during the renaissance, and a well known banker. He was also the father of the greatest Assassin of the time period, Master Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

I typed in yes and hit send.

In the resulting chaos, I almost missed the angry look that that guy in the tracksuit had as he left the room.

He followed me down an alley after school and decided to pick a fight. As soon as I stopped walking, he ran up behind me and took a wild swing at my head. I ducked beneath it, tripping him as he went by me. He got back up and kept trying to hit me, missing each time.

"Hold still you son of a bitch!" I jumped back from an attempt to kick me in a very important place.

"I will when you stop trying to hit me."

"Why should I? It's your fault; you and NERV. You bastards put my sister in the hospital!" I stopped moving when he said that, letting him hit me in the jaw. It wasn't a really strong hit, but because of the shock it was enough to knock me to the ground.

As soon as my ass hit the pavement, I heard alarms going off throughout the city. He gave me this look as he turned away. "Just get going, go tear up another family." He ran off, probably towards a shelter.

I need to get to my Eva.

"Do we have any information on the target?" The Eva was getting ready to launch.

I heard Misato answer over the radio. "Sorry, all we know is that it's in the area. It's fast though, it was only reported to come out of the coast five minutes ago and it's already in the city."

"Roger that; EVA-01 launching."

Once I'd reached the surface, I grabbed a pallet rifle and started looking for the Angel. I saw something moving at the edge of my line of sight and opened fire. In retrospect, I realize that was a bad idea, but at the time the opponents I was used to would be dead after having an entire clip from a rifle emptied into them.

I couldn't see anything past the smoke, but I was sure the Angel was there. "You idiot! You blinded yourself to the target." I realized exactly how bad it was not to be able to see the Angel a few moments later when a glowing tendril shot out at me. I instinctively raised my rifle to defend myself while rolling out of the way, but it was too fast.

The tendril went straight through the useless rifle, taking out the pylon on my left shoulder too. Damn it, I can't afford to take my eyes off this thing long enough to get a new weapon. I've been out here for less than a minute and lost almost every offensive option I had.

"Send me a new rifle, now!" the smoke had cleared enough for me to make out the shape of the Angel. It started at the far end with a cylindrical body. About two thirds of the way up, the cylinder began to split open, revealing several rib-like structures. a few of them actually extended away from what appeared to be its spine, almost like legs. Just under its shovel-like head was its core, affixed to the top of the spine. More importantly, there was a small armlike appendage on each side with tendrils extending out of them.

Those things can probably be lengthened as needed; this is going to suck. Before the requested rifle could be sent up, the Angel struck again; this time losing my power cable. I kept jumping and rolling away until it sent a single tendril out. When I jumped away from it, I felt the other one wrap around my left ankle. The first tendril then wrapped around my arm. Then it started to lift me.

Shit! I should have been able to dodge that. It's because of what that guy told me. By injuring his sister during the fight, I had violated a tenant of the Creed. I hadn't intentionally done anything to her, but my actions still led to an innocent kid getting hurt. I almost didn't notice the two kids between the Evas fingers when I hit the hill.

Damn it, not again. "Shinji, partially eject the entry plug and let them in." Before I could follow the order, the Angel was at the hill, ready to strike again.

If I move out of the way, those two will get killed. I did the only thing I could in the situation; I grabbed the tendrils and held on.

"Okay Shinji, hold the Eva on your current commands and get them inside."

The plug went dark for a few seconds, and I heard a splash as they dropped into the LCL. I would have told them that they could breathe it, but the Eva was back online and my hands were burning.

"Shinji, fall back for now; we can engage the Angel later in the Geofront." I could tell what she was planning to do then. If I failed to eliminate the Angel down there, they would drop the buildings that had been lowered onto it. Those buildings were full of innocent people.

_Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent_

I couldn't let them do that. I had less than a minute left, and I did something very stupid. I opened the pylon on my right shoulder, withdrawing the only weapon I had left. I sent out my AT-Field towards the Angel. Once it was canceled, I started to run down the hill.

"What the hell are you doing; she said to run away!" The guy whose sister I almost killed doesn't seem to like this idea. I'd probably like it better if he knew what would happen if I didn't do this.

The Angel impaled me once I'd reached the bottom of the hill. I had two burning tendrils coming through my stomach. I should be in too much pain to think right now; why isn't this effecting me as much as it should?

I looked at the two students behind me. That must be it; their presence in the plug is creating a sort of buffer. The problem with it is that the Eva isn't moving as easily as it should. I saw the timer.

**00:17**

I jumped the remaining distance to the Angel

**00:13**

Forced its head up from the covering position it had take over the core

**00:11**

Thrust the knife forward

**00:10**

And felt the tendrils wrap around my ankles to pull me back.

**00:09**

I gripped the Angels head to keep myself from moving

**00:08**

Pulled myself back towards it

**00:06**

And forced the blade into the core.

The Angels core stopped glowing just as the timer hit **00:00**

"That… was too damn close."

* * *

Well, this is a little shorter than I'd hoped; but I'll try to make up for it when it's time for Ramiel.

And to Celtic Reaper: If you think Asuka is going to be pissed about his sync ratio; just wait until he gets an Apple.


End file.
